[JBM]

No, take this for rumor or little birdy told me or whatever you want . . .

This was originally posted on Autospies and referenced in AppleInsider.com

Apple flavored BMW iDrive?

Auto enthusiast web site Auto Spies has published an article containing an unconfirmed rumor that Apple is aiding BMW in a redesign of its iDrive for the next BMW 7-series. Introduced by BMW in 2001, the iDrive is a combined pioneering driver information/entertainment system, but has been met by a severe lack of customer satisfaction. If you have any further details on subject, please let us know.

Anyone have any info on this? I think it would be a great partnership. I think my iDrive is okay, however there is a massive amount of room for improvement. I do think the nav system implemented by BMW is far behind other car manufactureres and even further behind GPS manufacturers like Garmin or Tom Tom.

[Nyulak]

I read that the Apple iPhone was to have a spot in the future 7-series, but nothing about Apple doing the iDrive interface. It would be pretty cool if it did. I didn't get iDrive because of all of the complaints I read about in the usual car mags and I couldn't justify the expense of a GPS unit.

Also, BMW has the best OEM European implementation of GPS, but it is behind other manufactures, namely Toyota and Honda. I was playing around with a TomTom at Best Buy earlier this week and I am impressed with its speed. And it can control an iPod, so need for the outlandishly expensive iPod interface that BMW is offering.